Research
The research of Prof. Carl Borrebaeck has over the years been focussed on biological therapeutic concepts for cancer treatments as well as advanced diagnostics based on multiplexed biomarker discovery. Cancer therapy based on recombinant antibodies against tumor associated target molecules or checkpoint inhibitors have resulted in a number of clinical trials, aiming at improved treatment options for the patients. The diagnostic focus has been based on advanced microarrays platforms, with the vision to develop affinity proteomic technologies for early diagnosis, where main target indications are pancreatic, breast and prostate cancer. The selected biomarkers are defined with antibodies directed against cancer associated markers released by the tumor (the secretome) or immuno regulatory proteins, as part of a systematic response. Today, the pilot platform includes up to 500 antibodies and well-conceived bioinformatics has been developed for selection of the orthogonal markers generating the optimal signature for maximum specificity and sensitivity for a particular diagnosis. The approach is extremely sensitive and is able to detect proteins at mid-fM concentrations, as demonstrated in an European multicenter trial, a Chines clinical study and recently in the largest study ever on pancreatic cancer. The approach was able to differentiate pancreatic cancer patients in stage I and II from healthy controls with an accuracy of 96%.